Introduction
Sri Gupta is recorded as the founding figure of the Gupta dynasty, though he is known almost entirely through later inscriptions, chiefly the Allahabad Pillar (Prayaga Prashasti) inscription of his descendant Samudragupta, rather than through any surviving records of his own reign.
Family
- Children: Ghatotkacha (Gupta king)
An Ancestor Known Only Through Later Sources
Historians continue to debate Sri Gupta's exact territory, dates (estimates range across the mid-to-late 3rd century CE), and even his original title, which some inscriptions render simply as "Maharaja" rather than the more elevated titles his descendants later claimed. His importance lies chiefly in establishing the line from which the far more powerful Gupta emperors — Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II — would descend.
This article records the Gupta Empire (c. 3rd-6th century CE) as historical genealogy reconstructed mainly from inscriptions, coinage and later literary references; several later successions and family relationships remain genuinely disputed among historians, and this account follows the most widely accepted reconstruction while flagging specific points of uncertainty.